


October 27th, 1995

by Dellefox



Series: And It All Began with You [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU, And also his own fanclub, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Seto being melodramatic, Smol role by OC that's basically Mana in present day, Yami Yuugi | Atem Has His Own Body, altered character ages, junior high-aged yamis, obnoxious rivalries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28828011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dellefox/pseuds/Dellefox
Summary: Atem's quiet teenage life is turned upside down when he catches a lucky break at a Duel Monsters tournament and defeats Seto Kaiba, newly-minted CEO and angsty, melodramatic teenager. With a rival hot on his heels, fangirls always hovering nearby, and his two delinquent best friends at his side, his journey through adolescence will lead him to experiences and accomplishments he never thought possible. AU, Pre-relationship, eventual Prideshipping in later works.
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Seto & Yami Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi
Series: And It All Began with You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113716
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. October 1995

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go!  
> This is very beginning of the High School and Off-Grid AUs I worked on during Pridecember. ^_^ This is very, very pre-relationship because Atem is pretty much still a kid here, but it sets the stage for everything. This is gonna be a slooooow burn because Atem has a lot of growing up to do before the events of 'Stocking' and 'Visual Kei' and so does Kaiba. 
> 
> The ages are based of off what I thought they were in high school before I Googled their actual ages(yes, my dumb teenage self thought Kaiba was an actual adult. Twenty years later I know better. xD). 
> 
> I also used to write Atem and Yugi as brothers, but I hadn't seen the final arc so it didn't really click in my brain that he's Egyptian(it did, but it didn't). So I'm reconciling that now by making them half-brothers in order to fix ethnicity errors. Atem's father is Egyptian, Yugi's is Japanese. This will come into play in later chapters. 
> 
> Ages at the start of the fic: 
> 
> Seto and Mai - 15  
> Atem – 13  
> Yugi, Tea, Malik and Ryou – 9  
> Mokuba - 3 
> 
> Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a careful retooling of his deck combined with a brilliant streak of luck, Atem manages to break into the elite dueling ranks and gain a rival in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hi there! I'm editing this several months after publishing it because A03 at my summary. Oops. Anywho, here we go! 
> 
> Ages:  
> Seto and Mai - 15  
> Atem – 13  
> Yugi, Tea, Malik and Ryou – 9  
> Mokuba - 3

_October 1995_

The arena was brightly lit, but Atem couldn’t see the crowd. He was fine with that.

Somewhere, faintly, in the stadium, he could hear his friends and family cheering for him, Marik and Bakura being particularly obnoxious. He smirked.

He started dueling at age eleven, two years ago. Now he was thirteen, and after an exhaustive deck rebuild, he’d fought his way to the quarterfinals of the Domino City Regional Championships. With his grandfather’s help, a strategy overhaul had accompanied the deck rebuild, and he was amazed at how easily he’d sailed through the first brackets of the tournament. It felt like his deck was finally clicking into place. Now, here he stood, poised to possibly make his way to the semifinals, and have a shot at the podium and some prize money.

Across the field was a boy he’d never seen before. He appeared to be slightly older, much taller, and he sported a shock of neon green hair, eyes narrowed into a hostile scowl. Though this was the first time Atem was seeing him in person, he knew exactly who this boy was.

His name was Seto Kaiba, and his reputation preceded him in spades.

He had a reputation for being rebellious and cold, both on and off the dueling field. His stepfather was the infamous Gozaburo Kaiba, a man who Atem knew little about and a man who his grandfather, mother, and stepfather despised. Gozaburo had allegedly committed suicide a year prior, and rumors had flown around his school about Seto’s possible involvement. Though there was overwhelming evidence to the contrary, it did nothing to improve Seto’s reputation in the dueling community. Atem had heard on the news that the suicide was motivated by a hostile takeover orchestrated by both Seto and a man named Pegasus Crawford, the creator of Duel Monsters.

He had also maintained a three-year-long undefeated streak.

Atem shook his head to clear his reverie, took a deep breath and adjusted the hem of his Depeche Mode shirt. He wasn’t allowed to wear spikes yet(“Not until high school!” his mother insisted). But he was allowed to cut off the collar and sleeves of his shirts, and was allowed a few studded leather cuffs. One studded black belt held up the waist of his black jeans, another containing a pouch for his deck was slung at an angle across his hips. In lieu of earrings(also not allowed until high school, per his mother), he wore several silver necklaces of varying chain styles and lengths. He opted for sneakers this time, they were more comfortable and therefore less of a distraction. He wished, not for the first time, that he could at least be allowed to dye his hair during the summer, when school was out. But again, as with the spikes and piercings, his mother stood firm.

Seto stood before Atem, green hair seeming to glow under the bright lights of the stadium. He sported a denim punk vest with a variety of studs, spikes and patches of Duel Monsters and American heavy metal bands that Atem couldn’t make out from his side of the field. Accompanying the vest was a shredded black tee, pants with rips and patches at the knees, and black combat boots. He had black gauges in his ears and Atem could just barely make out a piercing on his right eyebrow. Behind Seto, in the front row of the stadium, sat a teenage girl with voluminous, wavy blond hair. She was holding a child in her lap with long, unruly black hair. He couldn’t have been older than three or four. The child was most likely Seto’s younger brother, Mokuba, but who was the girl, a nanny? A girlfriend, perhaps? She didn’t look any older than Seto. 

Atem knew this wasn’t going to be the most fun duel on he’d ever faced, but if he wanted to win the tournament he’d need to defeat this Seto person.

Seto was wearing his trademark smirk, standing proudly with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You’re _short,_ ” he remarked. His voice was low, in the process of deepening but not quite there yet. It had a smoothness to it that irritated Atem instantly.

Atem rolled his eyes and glared back. “You’re very astute,” he retorted. “Did you just realize that?”

“How old are you? Ten? You’re barely five feet tall, and I’ve never seen you at a tournament before.” The smoothness of his voice gave way to a gravelly edge.

“I’m _thirteen_ , if you must know. I’ve been dueling for two years.”

“Then this should be an easy win. If I’ve never dueled you that means you aren’t high-ranking and you won’t get far.”

“That’s what you think,” Atem spat. “I’ve retooled my desk and I’ve barely broken a sweat. Maybe you’ll be an actual challenge.”

“Bring it, pipsqueak,” Seto snapped.

As was customary at this tournament, they walked to the center of the field and exchanged decks for shuffling. Atem looked up at Seto defiantly and realized he was, in fact, _really_ tall. Seto tried to stare him down but Atem refused to let himself be intimidated.

“How’s the weather up there?” He asked coolly.

“Perfect,” came the reply. They finished shuffling and handed their decks back to each other.

“I hope you’re getting enough oxygen at that altitude,” Atem quipped. “You’ll need it.”

“Settle down, boys,” the referee said. “Now, shake hands and we’ll flip for the first turn.”

The shook hands, each putting as much strength into it as they could while not breaking eye contact. Atem called heads. The coin toss was tails. Seto let out a _hmph,_ turned on one heel, and stalked back to his side of the field. Atem marked it as a victory, and returned to his side as well.

The referee signaled the start of the duel and the crowd roared.

Much to Atem’s delight, it was quite a challenge. The gameplay flew back and forth so fast that even the referee had trouble keeping up, and at one point they spent several turns triggering each other’s trap cards before they could even attack. The roar of the crowd faded out to the periphery of Atem’s mind, and any nerves he had were gone. He felt laser-focused, calling his moves and attacks with as much of a commanding timbre as a thirteen-year-old boy could. Watching Seto’s reactions was priceless. Every counter to Kaiba’s strategy resulted in a flash of panic before the older boy could stop it, and it was clear he was getting more and more rattled as the duel raged on.

At long last they were down to less than 100 life points each, and a failure on Kaiba’s part to see a trap card was the final nail in the coffin. Atem secured the victory, and a place in the semifinals. He could hear his family and friends cheering, and for the first time all evening, he allowed himself to relax and smile. Before the ref could call them over for the post-duel handshake Seto had vanished off the platform. Mokuba looked disappointed that his brother had lost, but the girl whispered something in his ear and he smiled again. Atem shrugged it off, hopped off the platform, and headed to the locker room.

He had changed into his street clothes and was nearly finished packing his dueling bag when he heard the sound of footsteps clicking on the floor. He turned to find Seto standing in the doorway, frigid eyes focused squarely on Atem.

“Nice duel,” Atem said. “You almost had it.”

Seto stalked over to Atem, leaned over him, and slammed a hand into the lockers next to Atem’s head. Atem was taken aback slightly by Kaiba’s eye color: he could have _sworn_ Kaiba had blue eyes, had even overheard some of his classmates at school swooning over them, but here, they were a bright gold. It wasn’t a natural eye color, it had to be contacts.

“Let’s make one thing abundantly clear, Mutou,” he snarled. “That loss was a fucking _fluke_. You may have unsettled me once but rest assured it will not happen again. The next time we face each other _I will not lose_.”

“If you’re trying to use your height to intimidate me it won’t work,” Atem shot back. “You aren’t the first person to try and scare me that way and you won’t be the last. I’ve dealt with bullies and you don’t scare me, Kaiba.”

Seto chuckled. He pushed himself back and away from the locker and crossed his arms again, like he had at the start of their duel. “Clearly I’ve underestimated your abilities. You’re the first newbie that’s kept up with me. That makes us rivals. Get used to me, Mutou. You won’t have another victory in another tournament without dealing with me first.”

He left the locker room with a flourish.

Atem quietly finished packing his things and headed to the lobby. He was nearly mowed down by Bakura, Atem, and Yugi. Malik and Ryou stood back quietly.

“You did it!” Yugi cheered! “I knew you could do it! Jii-chan is the best mentor!”

Atem smiled and hugged his younger half-brother. “I couldn’t have done it without my loudest cheerleader.” He ruffled Yugi’s messy brown hair and gave high-fives to Ryou and Malik.

“ _Ahem,_ ” said Bakura. “What about us? We cheered pretty loudly too, ya know.”

“Yeah,” Marik piped up. “What are we, chopped liver?”

“I couldn’t have done it without _any_ of you,” Atem said.

“Congratulations, Atem!” Sugoroku said. “I knew changing up your deck would help.”

“We’re so proud of you!” his mother said, beaming brightly.

“Thanks, guys.” Atem accepted hugs from his mother, his grandfather, and Isis. Rishid clapped a celebratory hand on his shoulder. He stifled a yawn, the evening finally catching up to him.

“Hey, we’ll have none of that!” Bakura said. “Come on, Pipsqueak. Let’s get some shut-eye. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

At the mention of _pipsqueak_ Atem flashed back to the incident with Seto in the locker room. There was something haunting in Seto’s eyes, but Atem couldn’t pinpoint it. Maybe he was just being a moody teenager. Maybe it was the gold contact lenses. Maybe it wasn’t important.

“Earth to Atem,” Marik said, waving a hand in front of his face. Atem snapped back to reality.

“Are you okay, Niisan?” Yugi asked.

“I’m fine,” Atem said, a little too quickly.

“Did something happen after your duel?” Sugoroku asked. “You’re not as animated as you usually are after a win.”

“Seto didn’t do anything, did he?” his mother asked, brows furrowed in worry. “Did he bully you? Did he try to fight you?”

“I’m _fine,_ I promise, Atem said. It just took a lot out of me. And no, Seto didn’t try to start a fight.” He decided not to worry anyone with the details of what had actually happened.

As he stared out the window on the drive home, he couldn’t help but feel as if his world had shifted, ever so slightly, as if to gently inform him of important things to come, that his path might change. It felt unsettling. It felt like some strange entity in the universe was trying to dictate the course of things, and he didn’t like it. It felt too big and scary to think about, so he tried to focus on his upcoming semifinal duel.

Maybe if he just kept beating Kaiba he wouldn’t have to think about it.

Atem dueled hard in the semifinals, but his deck was still new and now he was facing more elite duelists, whose decks were finely-tooled and who knew every card by heart. These duelists had been using their decks for months. Atem had weeks to familiarize himself with his. He fought hard, and in the end he lost his semifinal duel by 400 life points, but eked out a third-place victory. At the conclusion of the awards ceremony a silver flash from high up in the stands caught his eye.

A shock of neon green hair and lots of spikes and studs was all Atem was able to see before Seto disappeared further into the stadium.

At the conclusion of the tournament was a Halloween party, and duelists were encouraged to come dressed in costume. Those that wanted to could participate in a costume contest, and there was an arcade and plenty of games. Atem spotted a door being protected by security with a “20+ ONLY” sign next to it. This was the afterparty for the adult duelist league. He had no interest in it, pulling Yugi along a bit faster until they were well past the door.

“Atem!” Yugi whined. “I wanted to see what was in there!”

“Nothing you need to see,” Atem said dismissively.

“But it looked like fun!”

“All they probably do in there is smoke and drink and both of those are bad for you.” Atem spotted their friends over by the arcade. “Look! There’s our group!”

Yugi’s eyes lit up upon seeing Tea, Malik, and Ryou, forbidden party room instantly forgotten. He joined up with them while Atem was greeted by Marik and Bakura. Bakura rolled his eyes upon seeing Atem’s costume: black jeans, black combat boots, and a black long-sleeved shirt, with an array of gothic necklaces and rings. Because it was Halloween he’d been allowed black eyeshadow and red lipstick, and his dark brown hair had been worked into a frizzy, backcombed unruly mess.

“Honestly, Atem!” Bakura sighed. “Robert Smith is barely a stretch for you and nobody’s going to know who he is.”

“I was on a time crunch and it works!” Atem snapped. “And it’s not like anybody’s going to know who _you_ are any more than me.”

“Hey!” Bakura shot back. “Plenty of people know who Doctor Who is!” Bakura flipped his long, colorful scarf in irritation and adjusted his frock coat. It was tan and a bit raggedy, paired with gray plaid trousers and a brown wide-brimmed fedora.

“Anyway,” he continued, “At least I _bothered_ to dress up, unlike Marik here. Honestly, just because we’re teenagers now doesn’t mean we’re too cool to wear Halloween costumes. This is the best holiday of the year!”

“I _am_ wearing a costume!” Marik insisted.

“You are literally wearing the same outfit you wear to the arcade. Even fewer people will know who David Coverdale is than Robert Smith, you hair metal nerd.”

Marik’s costume was plain compared to the rest of the group: distressed, black jeans and sneakers, a distressed Whitesnake t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. His blonde hair was teased and combed to a frizz slightly more tamed than Atem’s. 

Atem rolled his eyes at both of them. “We need to figure out a game plan.” He turned to Tea and their younger siblings. “What do you guys want to do first?”

“Carnival games!” They cheered.

They headed over the carnival games, the younger members of the group buzzing with excitement. They started at the far end and worked their way down, the older siblings choosing to hang back and supervise rather than participate. In no time Yugi had racked up a large bag of toy prizes and candy to share with his friends, and they all made their way to the arcade, where they stayed until their parents and older siblings came to pick them up. Atem had fun but he couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched. Sure enough, as they headed out of the stadium, he caught Seto’s steely glare fixed squarely on him and he made sure to return it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know squat about the actual gameplay of Duel Monsters. I know just enough to keep up and I do know that in the anime(especially the dub) they tend to throw the rules right into the dustbin. As much as I would have like to have written an actual duel here, I just don’t have the knowledge or the time to devote to researching it to effectively pull it off. 
> 
> Regarding Yugi’s hair, and also Atem’s:  
> For the sake of plot I had to alter their canonical hair a bit. While in the anime and manga their tricolored hair is likely meant to be their natural hair color and style(because manga and anime logic), in this AU I had to change it up. Atem, being half-Egyptian, would likely have dark brown or black hair. It would also most likely be curly or wavy while Yugi’s would likely be less unruly. This comes into play later on.  
> Seto does not yet have his blue-eyes white dragon cards. I haven’t yet figured out how he’s going to obtain them.  
> The legal age of adulthood in Japan is 20. In June of 2018 government enacted a bill that will lower this age down to 18. The legal drinking, smoking, and gambling age will remain 20.


	2. November 1995

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Seto transfers to Atem's school and Sugoroku obtains a very rare and sought after card. Much to Atem's chagrin, drama ensues.

Atem was relieved when the weekend finally ended and he went back to school. He continued to tweak his deck and duel after school in the Duel Monsters club. His third-place finish in the last tournament had earned him a small following, and a gaggle of girls relentlessly followed him everywhere until Bakura and Marik made them scatter. It didn’t completely fix the problem, as they continued to stare and giggle and slip notes into his locker, but at least they weren’t stalking him everywhere now. Atem didn’t understand girls, and he didn’t really want to. He always felt weird around most of them, and he when asked if he thought certain girls were pretty, he never knew how to respond. He just didn’t really care and he didn’t see what the big deal was. But at least he wasn’t getting bullied as much as before.

At one point his unofficial fangirls tried to join the Duel Monsters club, but half of them didn’t have decks and the other half were trying to share a single deck, and when it was clear they were there only to fawn over Atem their supervisor put their foot down and told them they needed to join another club.

During the week he found time to research his new self-proclaimed rival.

KaibaCorp, formerly a weapons manufacturer, was apparently in the process of a major reform into what would be a gaming company, and was in the guardianship of Pegasus Crawford and a man named Isono Roland until Seto graduated high school. From what Atem had heard on the news, manufacturing was slowly being shut down as contracts were completed and not renewed, and angry investors were pulling out, draining the company of its warmongering reputation but also much-needed revenue and funding. This didn’t seem to phase either Crawford, Roland, or Kaiba, as they seemed to have a game plan and despite the frantic, mostly negative press, the rebuild seemed to be going forward with no hiccups. If Seto was bothered by any of it he sure wasn’t letting it show during their first duel. Atem found himself wondering what had really happened behind closed doors. Surely his home life wasn’t a good one despite having every luxury money could buy, or Seto wouldn’t be so cold and angry.

Towards the end of the week rumors began to weave through the hallways about a new student transferring to the ninth grade. Atem didn’t pay attention until one particularly cold morning not long after Culture Day. He was pulling books out of his locker, Bakura and Marik in tow, when he heard one of his fangirls mention the name _Kaiba._ His blood ran cold and he froze halfway through closing his locker door, tournament-fueled bravado now completely drained.

“Atem?” Bakura asked.

Atem flashed back to his last encounter with Seto Kaiba, after their duel.

“Dude, are you okay?” Marik asked.

“I’m fine,” Atem said quietly. He slammed his locker shut and reset his lock.

“Bollocks,” Bakura replied. “Every time someone mentions Kaiba you panic. Something happened at that tournament and you haven’t told us what.”

Atem sighed. “I’ll tell you after school.”

Atem’s worries were confirmed shortly after homeroom began. Takeshi-sensei, his teacher, began the class with an announcement.

“Good morning,” he began. “There’s no sense in keeping things quiet anymore so I’ll just get right to it. The rumors are correct. We have a new transfer student and that student is Seto Kaiba.”

A murmur rolled through the class. Most of the girls started excitedly chatting and swooning. Atem’s face fell. Bakura and Marik both shot concerned glances his way.

Takeshi-sensei waved a hand and the class quieted down. “I want to make it abundantly clear that you are _not_ to follow, harass, or stalk him. He is to be left alone. Treat him as you would any other student at this school. Is that clear?”

The class nodded in agreement.

“Good,” he said. “Now, let’s go over a few things from yesterday…”

Atem was normally a good student, but he couldn’t focus. He kept thinking about his duel with Kaiba, the incident after, and his cold, amber eyes locked on him as they’d left the Halloween party after. That barrier that he’d taken solace in was gone. There was no way Kaiba was going to ignore him. The ninth-grade classes were held on the top floor of the school, which meant there would be no way to avoid his new rival now.

The day dragged on endlessly. Atem was a nervous wreck at lunch, choosing to eat in the classroom rather than go outside and risk running into Kaiba. As per usual, Bakura and Marik stayed with him. He was even more of a nervous wreck when the final bell rang. He hung back and waited until everyone else exited the classroom, shuffling papers in his backpack and pretending to pack until the teacher finally scooted the three of them out the door. Bakura and Marik stood guard on either side while he grabbed what he needed from his locker and they tore out of the building and to the game shop.

In the safety of his room, he quietly recounted the post-duel incident to them, and was met with annoyed growling from both.

“Knew he couldn’t be trusted,” said Bakura. “What an ass.”

“No kidding,” Marik said. “I mean, I had a bad feeling after that tournament win given his rep, but geez. I didn’t think he’d take it so seriously.”

“He’s got a flair for the theatrical, hasn’t he?”

“Sounds quite melodramatic if you ask me.”

“I heard he killed his stepfather.”

Marik paused. “Okay but honestly though his stepfather was a real prick and also a warmonger, so if that’s actually true he gets a pass on that one. Shoving that psychopath out a window deserves a medal of valor. That’s a public service.” He pulled out a textbook. “Dude, I just realized he’s probably going to be in the Duel Monsters club now.”

“With my luck, he’ll probably end up running it,” Atem groaned.

“Eeeeeeeew,” Bakura said. “Can we change clubs?”

All three of them flopped onto the bed dramatically.

Atem managed to successfully avoid Kaiba for the remainder of the week, but on the following Monday his luck ran out. 

“Fuck,” he grumbled. He was weighing whether or not it would be worth the detention for wearing the wrong shoes in class when he found himself flanked by Bakura and Marik.

“What’s with you?” Marik asked. “You’re acting like your locker has radioactive waste in it.“

Bakura pointed at the tall, sullen teenager hovering by his locker, bright green hair a dead giveaway.

“Well that was a fitting metaphor,” Marik said flatly. “ _Gods_ that hair is obnoxious. All right, new policy. We accompany you literally everywhere on the campus for the rest of the school year. At least he’ll be in high school next year

Atem nodded. He took a breath, kept his chin up, and marched to his locker. Seto was leaning against the neighboring cabinet, steely gaze affixed to Atem. His eyes were now an electric, icy blue, confirming that he was wearing contacts during their last encounter.

“About time. You’re going to be late to class if you stall any longer,” he said.

“So will you,” Atem spat back.

“With my GPA and my namesake?” he chuckled. “Being a few minutes late won’t mean a thing.” He eyed Bakura and Marik. “You can dismiss your bodyguards. I don’t want your lunch money.”

“We’ll be staying right here, thanks,” Bakura sneered. “We know about that stunt you pulled at the tournament.”

Seto raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to intimidate me?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Marik cut in. “All you need to know is that if you have any business with Atem you go through _us_ first _._ If you have any observational skills you’ve surely noticed that nobody on campus picks on us, including the senpai. If you’d like to know why then by all means, fuck around and find out.”

Seto puffed up and stepped to Bakura and Marik. “I know exactly who you are, Ishtar. And you too, Davies. Your reputations precede you, but you don’t scare me. You’re just a couple of kōhai punks who like to cause trouble out of boredom.”

“What do you _want,_ Kaiba?” Atem cut in, trying to stop the inevitable fight.

Seto turned back to him. “I want another duel. You owe me one.”

Atem snorted. “I don’t owe you _shit._ ” 

“That win was a mistake, and I have every right to know how you pulled it off,” Seto snarled.

“I sure as hell didn’t cheat, if that’s what you’re insinuating,” Atem spat.

“Then prove it by dueling me after school.”

The first bell rang.

“You’re on,” Atem hissed. “Now _move_. I have to get to class.” He quickly switched out his books and shoes and slammed the door shut, walking under Kaiba’s outstretched arm with room to spare. Bakura and Marik followed suit but not before casting more glares at Kaiba.

Word of their impending duel had spread through the school like wildfire, and by lunch nearly everyone was talking about it. In the short time Kaiba had attended Domino Junior High he’d amassed a fan club of his own, complete with a rivalry and distain for the unofficial Atem fan club. The two groups got into a fight in the hallways during a passing period and several students were sent to the principal’s office. Atem couldn’t concentrate on his studies after that, doodling in his notebook and watching the clock until the final bell rang. An excited buzz arced through the class like lightning, and Atem’s legs felt like lead.

“You got this, Mutou!” Said one of his classmates, a girl by the name of Makoto. “You beat him once, you can beat him again! As the class representative for 7-B, we’re going to cheer for you so loud Kaiba won’t be able to concentrate!”

Atem gave a tiny smile as Marik helped him to his feet, and they made their way to the outdoor lunch area, the only place on campus large enough to accommodate both the duel and the spectators. Several teachers had stayed behind to supervise the duel and break up any subsequent fighting, and the club supervisor officiated the duel.

Atem had only been a little nervous before his first duel with Seto, but for this duel he was full of anxiety. He took a deep breath and pretended it was just a normal tournament and that his opponent was anyone but Kaiba, but the older boy’s grand gestures and theatrics made it difficult and he took an early lead. Eventually he settled into the duel, and with Marik, Bakura, and several fangirls and classmates cheering him on he slowly turned the duel around. It was a difficult duel, and like with their first, much time was spent evading trap and spell cards while slowly whittling away life points. In the end, with less than fifty life points remaining, he called his final attack and won the duel.

The schoolyard erupted into a chorus of happy screams from Atem’s side and anguished shrieks from Seto’s side, with several of his fangirls sobbing hysterically(“It’s just a _duel_ , for shit’s sake!” Bakura had exclaimed. “Nobody’s dying! _Christ!_ ”). The teachers slowly cleared out the area until only Seto, Atem, Bakura, and Marik remained.

“This is between you and me,” Seto growled. He glanced over at Bakura and Marik. “I won’t touch him, don’t worry.”

Bakura and Marik looked at Atem. Atem nodded.

“Fine,” Bakura snapped at Seto. “But we won’t be going far. You lay one finger on him and you won’t be able to walk for weeks.”

They headed off and around the corner, on standby.

Kaiba stared down at Atem. Atem stared right back. --

“I got closer this time,” Kaiba snapped. “So it’s only a matter of time before you lose.”

“Nobody goes undefeated,” Atem said. “I don’t expect to win every time.”

“I _did_ win every duel before you came along,” Kaiba replied, voice angry and harsh. “If you think handing me an easy win will make all of this go away you’re wrong. We both want the same thing. We want to _win._ But in a duel there’s only one victor.”

“Not unless there’s a draw,” Atem said, grinning wickedly.

Kaiba’s eyes narrowed and he stalked over to Atem.

“ _There will never be a draw between us,”_ he growled. “I will make damn sure of that.” He scooped up his deck and left with a flourish.

Atem rolled his eyes and collected his cards while Marik and Bakura rejoined him.

“Drama _queeeeeen,_ ” Marik said in a singsong voice.

“Good lord, is he always that melodramatic?” Bakura added. “That was fucking exhausting to listen to.”

“You overheard that!?” Atem asked, mortified.

“Yeah, his voice carries,” Marik said. “I doubt he even realizes it because he’s so damn wrapped up in turning everything in to a soap opera.” 

Atem let out a sigh. “Of all the schools he chooses to go to, it’s this one.”

“I mean, he does live in Domino,” Marik said. “And you just have to make it to March. After that he’s out of your hair for two years, except for tournaments.”

“In the meantime, you have us!” Bakura said cheerfully, giving Atem a friendly slap on the back.

Atem smiled. “Thanks, guys.” He slipped his deck back into his backpack. “Let’s get out of here. We have homework.”

“You mean _you_ have homework,” Bakura said. “We’re just going to watch you do yours while we play Tetris.”

“No copying my answers then.”

“Ruuuuude,” Marik said.

They went back to their lockers, collected their things, and headed to the game shop.

They arrived to find Yugi, Tea, Ryou and Malik crowded around Sugoroku and looking at something on the register counter. Yugi looked up when he heard the shop door open.

“Nii-chan! Come look!” he said excitedly. “Jii-chan was opening booster packs and he found _another Blue-Eyes White Dragon!_ ”

Atem’s eyes widened. “No way!”

“Wait, _another?”_ Marik asked. “He already has _one_!?”

“Yes, I do,” Sugoroku said proudly. “It was a gift from a dear friend of mine. I keep it in safety deposit box at the bank. It’s one of my most valuable possessions.”

The three older boys joined the group at the counter and crowded around their younger siblings to look at the card. Sugoroku had already placed it in a thick plastic screwdown case, the thick cotton gloves he’d worn to handle the card folded neatly in a pile next to it.

“Wow,” Bakura murmured.

Atem knew his grandfather owned one of the highly-coveted cards, but had never seen it in person. Sugoroku’s best friend, Arthur Hawkins, had given him the card years ago, when they were much younger, before Atem was born. They were extremely rare. Only one single card was usually ever released at a time, and often several months apart. Pegasus had remined tight-lipped about his reasons for limiting the card and also the methodology around when and why he put them into circulation, dodging the question every time it was asked during interviews or press conferences.

“It’s beautiful,” Marik said.

The card was pristine, not a single scratch on it. Sugoroku had taken great care in handling it. It was beautifully detailed, the dragon’s scales sleek and metallic against the rainbow holofoil background. They stared at it for what felt like hours before Sugoroku finally put the card in the inventory room safe.

“Are you going to keep it?” Yugi asked. “Then you’d have two!”

Sugoroku chucked. “I think I’m probably going to sell it. One is enough for me, and this one holds no sentimental value. It’s better suited in the someone else’s deck or collection.”

“What about Atem?” Ryou asked. “If he had that in his deck he’d be unstoppable!”

“It’s a great card, but I like my Dark Magician,” Yugi said. “It’s fine, really.” He smiled at Ryou.

“But you could keep Kaiba off your back at school with that card!” he chirped happily.

All eyes turned to Atem, who felt his face getting warm.

Sugoroku furrowed his brow. “What’s this about Kaiba?” He asked. “Has he been bullying you?”

“N-no,” Atem stammered out. “He just pesters me for duels, that’s all.”

“He’s coming to school just to duel you now!?” Yugi asked.

“What?” Tea chimed in. “He’s that mad about losing to you at the tournament?”

“ _Psychoooooo_ ,” Malik said in a singsong voice not unlike his brother’s.

Atem sighed and divulged the events of the last week, with help from Marik and Bakura.

“Wow,” Yugi said. “Do you think he transferred to your school just do duel you?”

“I hope not,” Atem said.

“I don’t think he did, honestly,” Marik replied. “We’d be seeing more of him if that were the case, I think.”

“Maybe he’s just too scared of us,” Bakura said proudly. “Nobody messes with likes of us!”

Everyone in the room rolled their eyes except for Sugoroku.

“While I’m very grateful my eldest grandson has the two of you to safeguard him, let’s not get too carried away,” he said. “Homework time, all of you!”

He was met with a chorus of groans as everyone split off into their study groups.

The following Monday Atem was relieved to find no neon-haired senpai standing by his locker. He quickly switched out his books just in case the taller boy may have had any last-minute ideas. Bakura and Marik bounced up to his locker, looking winded and sweaty. Bakura was sporting a black eye and Marik’s left cheek had a dark splotch that was rapidly forming into a bruise.

“What the hell happened to you two?” Atem asked.

“Some punk wanted our lunch money and I told him he could pry it out of my cold dead hands,” Bakura said dismissively. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Davies is lying,” Marik said. “One of Kaiba’s fangirls apparently has a boyfriend and he got all ticked because _somebody_ had to mouth off and tell her to get a life.”

“She was sobbing hysterically because Kaiba lost an unofficial duel!” Bakura said defensively. “Who the hell gets that emotionally invested?”

“Do you not know what idol culture is?” Atem asked.

“Idol culture is _stupid,_ ” Bakura grumbled.

“That doesn’t mean you get to pick on fangirls!” Marik said. “I swear to God it’s a miracle he didn’t knock you into next year. Dude was the size of the fucking _Hulk._ ” He turned back to Atem. “So anyway, why’d you turn down keeping that Blue-Eyes your grandad found?”

“Keep your voice down!” Atem hissed. “Have you forgotten where we are?”

A chorus of giggles erupted five lockers down. He glanced over and saw a small group of his fangirls staring at him intently before dissolving into attempts at whispering that all three could clearly hear.

“Did he say _blue eyes?_ ”

“Like the blue eyes _white dragon?”_

“He has a _Blue-Eyes White Dragon?_ No way! When did he get it?”

“His _grandfather_ has it, doofus! Maybe we can go look at it after school today.”

“Oi!” Bakura snapped. “Sod off! This is none of your business!”

The girls trotted off to their class in a flurry of giggles and whispering, unfazed.

The morning bell rang and Atem slunk off to class feeling like he’d just swallowed a cinder block.

Like the duel with Kaiba, news of the newly-obtained rare card had reached every corner of the school by lunchtime, and Atem knew this would include Kaiba. He sat at his desk, food untouched, face in his hands. Bakura had gone to the cafeteria but Marik stayed behind, having brought his own lunch. Several students had asked them about the card between classes, and Atem had done his best to answer them without giving away details.

“Cheer up, bro,” Marik said. “Your grandad scored a rare card!”

“A rare card that _everybody_ knows we have now, thanks to you,” Atem grumbled. “I’m going to push you off the Domino pier and watch you sink into the ocean.”

“Dude, you’re not thinking this through!” Marik said. “This could boost business at the game shop SO MUCH. He could sell that card and you guys would be _set._ Also I can swim, so you’ll need to attach some cement blocks to my feet if you want to off me like a Yakuza goon.”

“Yes, and then everyone at school will know where I live, Kaiba included.”

“Um…everybody pretty much knows that already. It’s not exactly a subtle storefront.”

“Ishtar’s right. I already know where you live.”

Atem gasped and looked up. Wide, brown eyes looked up into cold azure, framed by brown and green hair that seemed to be fading to a more yellowed tone that somehow looked even more obnoxious than before.

“Why are _you_ here?” Marik asked. “Scram! This is our homeroom and we don’t care if you’re an upperclassman.”

“I’m here because of your grandfather’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon,” Seto said, avoiding Marik’s gaze.

“You can’t have it,” Atem snapped. “My grandfather hasn’t decided what to do with it yet.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t let you have it,” Seto said. “Perhaps he knows your limits as a duelist. Only the best can handle such a rare and powerful card.”

Marik snorted. “So you’re clearly disqualified from the running, given your track record against Atem here.”

“That card is the key I need to fully unlock the potential of my deck!” Seto cried. “I’ve realized my monsters simply aren’t powerful enough on their own anymore.”

Bakura appeared in the doorway. “Honestly, Kaiba. Your excuses are a mess. You can’t blame your cards. You’re the one who built the deck.”

“Piss _off,_ Davies!” Seto snapped his attention back to Atem and slammed his fists on the desk.

“I was on my way up to the top until you stopped me and I won’t let anything stand in my way of becoming the best duelist in the world. I’ve wanted, _needed_ a Blue-Eyes White Dragon and I won’t let you stop me from obtaining one.”

“If you break into the store we _will_ kick your ass,” Bakura warned.

Seto chuckled. “I’d never stoop to petty crimes to get what I want. I never said Atem’s grandfather wouldn’t be properly compensated.” He hauled himself off of Atem’s desk and straightened his coat. “If you grandfather sold me that blue-eyes you’d be able to travel to more tournaments and sharpen your skills, and if you’re going to keep dueling me you’ll need the training.”

Atem paused. “You’re right,” he said. “I’ll need it to keep _beating_ you.”

“I will not let you derail my dueling career. I will _not._ I’ve worked too hard and sacrificed too much. You couldn’t possibly understand what I’ve had to do to get to where I am.” He let out a _hrrrmph_ and stalked out of the room.

From a nearby desk, Makoto and a small group of their classmates stared after him in awe.

“Wooooooooooow,” said Makoto. “Angsty one, that Kaiba.”

“What is his deal?” Atem asked irritably.

“I did some digging on this,” Makoto said. She scooted her chair over to his desk, set down a notebook, and opened it to a page full of neatly detailed, outlines notes.

“According to what I found, Kaiba was undefeated all season before he dueled you, and he was projected to win the tournament. I’m thinking that’s why he can’t let it go. I found lots of articles talking about how he’s considered one of the best duelists in history despite having a rather…tarnished rep, shall we say, between taking over his company with Pegasus and his dueling career. This is common knowledge, Atem. I figured you already knew.”

“But I’m not an elite duelist,” Atem said. “I haven’t paid much attention to the gossip, just dueling strategy.”

“You placed third in a major tournament!” Marik said. “You’re in the big leagues now, kid. You’ve got to step your game up too or you won’t stay there for long.”

That nagging feeling of destiny that had crept into Atem’s thoughts during the tournament settled back in stayed there for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Makoto is heavily based around Mana. I wasn’t going to originally include any throwbacks or references to Atem’s friends/colleagues from the Pharaoh’s Memories/Ceremonial Battle arcs, but she provided a much-needed balance to constant teenage boy antics. In an effort to keep her out of Mary Sue territory, her personality will mirror Mana’s(as much as I know of her, anyway), and she won’t be taking a large role in the storyline. 
> 
> Yes, Bakura and Ryou got a new last name, since they're in different bodies and all. I went with something British here, because I quietly stan their accents in the dub. <3 
> 
> Sorry this took so long to get out! Life is chaotic right now and I honestly struggled with this chapter's coherency, but in the end we got there. xD Hopefully I'll get chapter three out much sooner. 
> 
> As always, many thanks for the feedback and kudos! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know squat about the actual gameplay of Duel Monsters. I know just enough to keep up and I do know that in the anime(especially the dub) they tend to throw the rules right into the dustbin. As much as I would have like to have written an actual duel here, I just don’t have the knowledge or the time to devote to researching it to effectively pull it off.  
> Regarding Yugi’s hair, and also Atem’s:  
> For the sake of plot I had to alter their canonical hair a bit. While in the anime and manga their tricolored hair is likely meant to be their natural hair color and style(because manga and anime logic), in this AU I had to change it up. Atem, being half-Egyptian, would likely have dark brown or black hair. It would also most likely be curly or wavy while Yugi’s would likely be less unruly. This comes into play later on.  
> Seto does not yet have his blue-eyes white dragon cards. I haven’t yet figured out how he’s going to obtain them.  
> The legal age of adulthood in Japan is 20. In June of 2018 government enacted a bill that will lower this age down to 18. The legal drinking, smoking, and gambling age will remain 20.


End file.
